Old Greek Stories eBook

One day Apollo left Coronis and her child, and went
on a journey to visit his favorite home on Mount Parnassus.

“I shall hear from you every day,” he
said at parting. “The crow will fly swiftly
every morning to Parnassus, and tell me whether you
and the child are well, and what you are doing while
I am away.”

For Apollo had a pet crow which was very wise, and
could talk. The bird was not black, like the
crows which you have seen, but as white as snow.
Men say that all crows were white until that time,
but I doubt whether anybody knows.

Apollo’s crow was a great tattler, and did not
always tell the truth. It would see the beginning
of something, and then, without waiting to know anything
more about it, would hurry off and make up a great
story about it. But there was no one else to
carry news from Coronis to Apollo; for, as you know,
there were no postmen in those days, and there was
not a telegraph wire in the whole world.

All went well for several days. Every morning
the white bird would wing its way over hills and plains
and rivers and forests until it found Apollo, either
in the groves on the top of Parnassus or in his own
house at Delphi. Then it would alight upon his
shoulder and say, “Coronis is well! Coronis
is well!”

One day, however, it had a different story. It
came much earlier than ever before, and seemed to
be in great haste.

“Cor—­Cor—­Cor!” it
cried; but it was so out of breath that it could not
speak her whole name.

“She does not love you! she does not love you!”
cried the crow. “I saw a man—­I
saw a man,—­” and then, without stopping
to take breath, or to finish the story, it flew up
into the air, and hurried homeward again.

Apollo, who had always been so wise, was now almost
as foolish as his crow. He fancied that Coronis
had really deserted him for another man, and his mind
was filled with grief and rage. With his silver
bow in his hands he started at once for his home.
He did not stop to speak with any one; he had made
up his mind to learn the truth for himself. His
swan-team and his golden chariot were not at hand—­for,
now that he was living with men, he must travel like
men. The journey had to be made on foot, and
it was no short journey in those days when there were
no roads. But after a time, he came to the village
where he had lived happily for so many years, and
soon he saw his own house half-hidden among the dark-leaved
olive trees. In another minute he would know
whether the crow had told him the truth.

He heard the footsteps of some one running in the
grove. He caught a glimpse of a white robe among
the trees. He felt sure that this was the man
whom the crow had seen, and that he was trying to run
away. He fitted an arrow to his bow quickly.
He drew the string. Twang! And the arrow
which never missed sped like a flash of light through
the air.